Today, we’re speaking to Professor Richard Baker, emeritus Professor at the University of Leicester.
Title of paper: Factors influencing confidence and trust in health professionals: a cross-sectional study of English general practices
Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2025.0154
A transactional model of general practice is being introduced to improve access that involves triage and increasing percentages of appointments with professionals other than GPs or that are not face-to-face. Using summary data about almost all English general practices in 2023-24 with 750 or more patients, the patient-reported levels of confidence and trust from the General Practice Patient Survey were associated with increased percentages of appointments that were with GPs or were face-to-face, and with higher continuity, after adjusting for other practice and patient factors. Confidence and trust was lower in practices with fewer appointments per year per patient, fewer patients having their needs met, greater deprivation, fewer patients of White ethnicity, and in practices located in London, as compared to other regions of England. Access to general practice needs improving, but the findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that preserving features of relationship-based care is also needed to maintain patients’ trust and confidence in health professionals
